>> and now, "bbc world news america." >> this is "bbc world news america" reporting from washington. iran's currency in free fall. president ahmadinejad accuses the west of an economic war. saving satellites of from space junk. the ambitious plan to clean up the upper atmosphere. what would you where to promote your favorite politician? we look at the memorabilia that helps promote presidential candidates. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and are around the globe.

iran's currency is in freefall tonight. it has fallen 10% in trading against the dollar today, having already lost 80% of its value since the beginning of the year. president mahmoud ahmadinejad hased the west of using sanctions to wage economic war against the country. u.s. officials say that this reflects the success of the economic sanctions targeted on the the nuclear program. >> a frightening crisis for the people of iran, a collapsing currency. with money losing value all the time, food prices have soared. some shops have stopped trading. many worry about jobs, savings, and why the government cannot stop it. >> the prices of food, cheese, butter, milk and even fruit have witnessed an increase of 10% in the last two weeks. people are complaining about

that. they are publicly complaining about this situation and they blame the situation on a ahmadinejad. >> today, he put the blame on western sanctions. >> it is very clear, iran is being pressurized. there are sanctions from the enemy telling other nations not to buy iranian oil. this is a secret war. the enemy thinks that with these sanctions, they can defeat iran. they cannot. it is a psychological war. "you can see how much trouble the currency is in. in a week, it has lost 1/3 of their value. what is the cause? as we heard, president ahmadinejad's critics say that he is to blame for bad management. he seemed to agree with the west, that finally there sanctions are beginning to have

a real impact. in the last year, the oil exports have roughly halved at as a result of sanctions. would it slide toward economic collapse and bring about the outcome that the west would like? >> hardship might make people more preoccupied with their ordinary life. this also strengthens the government in the sense that it would give it legitimacy to crush opposition and a civil society because of the threat. >> if the west is hoping that this tumbling currency might create the unrest, it might be disappointed. >> for more on the situation, i am joined by a member of a company which helps others do business in iran. thank you for joining me. >> thank you for having me.

>> are we seeing the beginning of a complete economic collapse or can the government do something? >> i would not describe it as an economic collapse. i think the economy is too big and there are too many interests for it to collapse this easily. obviously, the economic situation is deteriorating. it is very clear that different factors have worked together, coincided at this stage, for this situation to be this critical. >> one of the things that the president has been discussing is economic sanctions. something he has denied which has any impact on the past. >> it is very convenient for him. in the past, basically, he wanted to make the argument that sanctions are not working. right now, while everyone else is blaming the government, and especially the president, for the current situation, he is

blaming the sanctions. this is one way of diverting attention. >> who do the majority of the iranians claim? >> we don't have any accurate polls. it is very difficult to have a genuine opinion poll. my gut feeling says if they are very nuanced. they understand that the sanctions are having an effect. they understand that there are other domestic issues both the political and economic nature. >> what impact will this have on iran's regional power? could this curtail their up with 82 interfere in syria? >> -- and with their ability to interfere in syria? >> it depends.

how would these impact iran. it is clear. i would describe this as a major hit up. this is a hiccup for the economy. different things have come together. just to give you one interesting statistic. and last seven years, the money supply h grown 600%. it is obvious that this is partly because of the subsidy reform, partly because of repatriation of the funds that have to keep money in the bank. we have had a pickup. throughout the past few decades. -- we have had hiccup periods through the past few decades. who will be the dominant force after this? if we have a situation where the more moderate forces gain the upper hand at the failure of the

more hard-line forces, then there would be a rethinking in policy. >> that is a whole concept for another conversation. >> absolutely. >> the state of the economy in the u.s. is also in the spotlight. it is likely to be the focus of the first tv debate between the two candidates to monad. they are both wellware for the need to win the swing states. they are focusing on ohio where both candidates are speaking out to middle-class families. >> if at home with the shorts. a modern-day middle-class family, whose triumphs and struggles offer a snapshot of barack obama's america. the head of this family is one

of the 12 million unemployed. >> i am a labor. for 15vi have been laid off months. we talk about barack obama and mitt romney. >> i would like to see both of them stepped in my boots for about six months. i don't think they understand what the individual goes through. they need to try living paycheck to paycheck. >> he has spent his whole life here. a community built on paper mills and steel. the downtown streets are lined with casualties of the economic crisis. for five across town, school has let out. the oldest is thinking about the university. they're looking for part-time

work. >> it is not a single income economy any more. gas prices are through the roof. we have a family of seven. education systems worry me, health-care worries me. what will that do for my kids and grandkids? >> what barack obama and mitt romney have to address is a kind of middle-class malaise, a perception that while the rich will take care of themselves, and the poor will be taken care of by the state, people in the beenle have somehow b forgotten. this is what the middle class dream was supposed to look like. >> 1950's middletown. >> folbaumike, well, i think he did a decent job but i don't like his health-care plan. -- obama, well, i think he did a

different job. mitt romney is a decent job. him being as rich as he is, i don't think that he would understand a middle class person's problems. >> as a halloween decorations go up, the next generation is thinking as if trickle treat. >> clearly, the economic pain is still being felt here four years after the financial crisis. there are new moves to punish those responsible for the meltdown. the new york attorney general has launched a lawsuit against jpmorgan chase over accusations that the defrauded mortgage investor to the run-up to the global financial crisis. for more on that, i am joined by michelle in new york. why is jpmorgan being prosecuted

when the alleged fraud took place at bear stearns? >> i think that jpmorgan might be regretting the day that the ever set their eyes on bear stearns. back in 2008 when bear stearns was in trouble, regulators were begging jpmorgan to come in and try to take over bear stearns. they did. this is a fairly short of a cheap price in terms of investment banking terms. nonetheless, it might be a deal that today regret because of the new york attorney general. they are able to get mortgages that they cannot necessarily of a fort at the time. the banks were slicing as of and repackaging them and selling them to investors. the problem is, according to this complaint, is that bear stearns claimed they were evaluating and monitoring the underlying mortgages.

even after people started to default on these mortgages, we continue to slice them up, package them, and sell them to investors. investors lost more than $20 billion on assets on securities that sell for about $80 billion. >> thank you very much for that explanation. gunman have killed at least 25 people in an attack on a student hostel in northern nigeria. a 24 hour curfew is in place. a resident said that the attackers went from door to door shooting and stabbing their victims. the town has previously thing started by boko haram. french prosecutors have dropped the investigation into whether the head of the imf took part in

a gang rape. they said they acted after a young woman retracted her allegations against the 63-year- old. pope benedict's former butler claims that he was mistreated after his arrest for allegedly stealing confidential documents. he said his cell was so small he could not extend his arms. he denies that charges but confessed to photocopying documents. when you look up into the sky, you might be dazzled by the stars. what you cannot see with the naked eye is -- see withcan secannot the naked eye is tens of thousands of satellites. they could crash into each other bringing down mobile phone networks. >> one of the strangest

experiments is about to begin. a harpoon will be fired at part of a satellite. the aim is to find a way of cleaning up all of the junk in space. this is the swarm of junk that the harpoon is meant to tackle. the red dots represent old rockets and satellites. they are in the same area of space as the working satellites that we depend on. collisions have already happened. the idea is to fire the harpoon to capture the satellite. this way, the junk can be steered down into the atmosphere to be burned up. space has become a critical part. we see this every day. we see this in telecommunications, gps, and the space junk that is out there poses a real threat to these satellites which are provided as data. >> the first that is to test what the harpoon does to the

fragile skin of a satellite. too powerful a shot could blow it apart and create even more junk. what they are aiming at is an aluminum structure that most satellites are may vowed -- are made of. the harpoon has made it through. cartooning could be part of the answer. it is one of several techniques being investigated which is evidence of the growing awareness of the threat of space junk. >> last weekend, the skies above britain were street with what might have been space junk burning up. there should be more of this. the cost of carpeting is not known but the legacy of the space agency is proving dangerous. cleaning it up the starting to look worse. >> you are watching "bbc world news america."

still to come. a push to ban the centuries-old sport. australia's great barrier reef is the largest in the world but it is under severe threat. a new study has revealed that more than half of it has disappeared in the last 27 years. the causes are natural and man- made. scientists say the next decade will be critical to stopping the decline. largest the world's coral reef system, and unrivaled marine tool had been two and a half thousand kilometers of the northeastern shoulder. the scientists say that more than half of it has been destroyed in the past 27 years. cyclones account for nearly 50% of the destruction. 40% has been damaged by crown of thorns starfish.

10% has been done by coral bleaching which has been caused by rising water temperatures and increase the city. the result, a global climate change. >> as nothing else changes, the outlook looks pretty bad. the paper we just had published suggests that it was the same conditions over the next 10 years, we would see further reduction by half. remember, these changes are happening before the major impact of climate change kicks in. >> the government says they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to protect the great barrier reef. the u.n. says that unless more is done, the reef risks losing its world heritage list davis. this would turn into a political and ecological disaster. it has just been stand by google. are these pictures about to go from being an up-to-date window on the "masterpiece to a

collection for an archive? >> a thrilling sport tradition or a crow and antiquated form of entertainment? in mexico, the debate is raging on whether to ban bullfighting. >> it is still one of the most controversial past times in the americas. bullfighting has been practiced in mexico since the time of the conquistadores, but its days might now be numbered. last year, a proposed ban in the mexican capital only felt at the final hurdle. this time around, the activists are convinced that the legislation will pass.

following a partial ban in countries like peru and ecuador, this, the largest bullring in the world in mexico as potential the next site to be closed down. that is something that these fans and the workers here are desperate to avoid. this has been in the hernandez family for five generations. as they run their eye over a possible praetors, they look for speed, strength, and the instinct to charge. the men are very aware that their livelihood is at stake. >> we take care of these animals, is better than we take care of ourselves. there are economic and cultural questions at stake. bullfighting has existed in mexico for more than 500 years. it strikes me as irrational that

as a single stroke of a pen, a legislator, under pressure, can take away what is ours. >> he says a million people in mexico depend on bullfights to make a living. such claims are disputed by the pro-band campaigners in mexico city and will not convince them that the bullfighting should be scared. >> in mexico city, it is very similar to what happened in catalonia. the bullring's are empty. the plaza is empty. they survived on the whim of powerful economic sectors to still think they can do is they wish. >> we look at some of the memorabilia that they have collected over a lifetime dedicated to the spectacle. he fears memories might soon be all he has left. if the ban is passed, the whole industry faces a very uncertain future.

>> with every presidential election campaign here in the u.s. comes on entire business dedicated to promoting the candidate. anything, basically from badges, ribbons, posters, to the millions spent on television advertisements. now, from a mountain has gone under display online. it seems like those buttons have a long tradition. >> we are looking at 1952. this is an archive of presidential campaign memorabilia from 1952 until the present. >> vote for president johnson. >> we have about 400 commercials. we started off by going to the

different presidential libraries and correcting videos and converting this to the digital files. you can jump to any election year. you can click on 1980. that will take you right to a page for ronald reagan vs. jimmy carter. the commercials are 30 seconds or a minute that they summarize what was going on in the campaign to tell us what the main issues are. they were not intended to last as a historical record or if you look at years and years later. these are really important historical archives. >> these were made for the obama campaign. >> a democratic cookie cutter.

>> what you see behind us is just a sampling of some of the material that we collected from the last two conventions. >> it is on a table in a room that is our reference collection. full complete collection of the record for american politics and it goes back to george washington. >> this whole row of materials is made up of campaign buttons. this is from the mckinley campaign from 1896 until 1900. >> every four years ago out on the campaign trail and rebuild it out with contemporary material. >> some of these were passed by a local delegation. you go to the local primaries and we go to the national convention. it is the buttons, the posters, the signs, the funny hats people wear. what we are trying to do is to

collect the entire of sent through these material options. bring this back to washington, there is a cataloging process which will ultimately lead to a digitized record. >> we exist to document culture and this is part of that. it is that materiality that we are trying to gather. it has to have dimension to it. >> i feel that is important to understand history in order to understand the president. history does have a way of repeating itself and in america, it repeats itself every four years. if you have an understanding of tricks, techniques that have been used, you can understand what is going on now. >> that brings today's show to a close. for all of us here at world news

america, thank you for watching and come back tomorrow. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions.

we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news america" was presented by kcet, los angeles.

- hi, neighbour! we have a potty at school. and today

prince wednesday's going to use it. did you know there are potties everywhere? even at music man stan's music shop. i'll be right back. is made possible in part by... the richard king mellon foundation. dedicated for over sixty years to south western pennsylvania's quality of life, and competitive future. and by these pittsburg foundations. working together to enhance and enrich the lives of children for more than seventy-five years. and by the arthur vining davis foundations. dedicated to strengthening america's future through education. adcasting, dedicated to strengthening america's future and contributions to your pbs station, from viewers like you. and contributions in the neighbourhood ♪

♪ a beautiful day for a neighbour ♪ ♪ would you be mine? ♪ could you be mine? ♪ won't you be my neighbour? - ♪ it's daniel tiger's neighborhood ♪ ♪ a land of make-believe ♪ won't you ride along with me? ♪ - ♪ ride along - ♪ it's daniel tiger's neighborhood ♪ ♪ so much to do, so much to see ♪ ♪ won't you ride along with me? ♪ - ♪ ride along - ♪ i've got lots of friends for you to meet ♪ ♪ in this land of make-believe ♪ a friendly face on every street ♪ ♪ just waiting to greet you ♪ it's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood ♪ ♪ a beautiful day for a neighbour ♪ ♪ in daniel tiger's neighborhood ♪ (trolley dings.) - thanks, trolley! hi, neighbour! it's me, daniel tiger. today i'm going to school! want to come to school with me?